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Bodies of missing USS Fitzgerald sailors found on-board

Searchers brought the remains of to Naval Hospital Yokosuka where they will be identified, the Navy said in a statement.

The damaged USS Fitzgerald is seen near the U.S. naval base in Yokosuka, southwest of Tokyo, after the destroyer collided with the Philippine-registered container ship ACX Crystal in the waters off the Izu Peninsula Saturday. (Eugene Hoshiko / The Associated Press)

By Eugene HoshikoThe Associated PressKoji UedaThe Associated Press

Sat., June 17, 2017

YOKOSUKA, JAPAN—Navy divers found the bodies of missing sailors Sunday aboard the stricken USS Fitzgerald that collided with a container ship in the busy sea off Japan, the navy said.

Searchers gained access to the spaces that were damaged during the collision and brought the remains to Naval Hospital Yokosuka where they will be identified, the Navy said in a statement. Seven sailors had been missing.

It said that the families were being notified and provided the support they need during “this difficult time.” The names of the sailors will be released after all notifications are made.

Sixteen hours following the predawn Saturday collision, the damaged destroyer was pumping out water as it limped back to its home port in Yokosuka Naval Base south of Tokyo by sunset Saturday, its crew lined up on deck. The Philippine-flagged container ship was berthed at Tokyo’s Oi wharf, where officials began questioning crew members about the cause of the crash.

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At least three other crew members, including the captain, were injured in the crash, which damaged two berthing spaces, a machinery room and the radio room. Most of the more than 200 sailors aboard would have been asleep in their berths at the time of the collision.

It wasn’t clear what caused the crash.

The navy said that the collision occurred 103 kilometres southwest of Yokosuka, home to the 7th Fleet.

The Japanese coast guard said it received an emergency call from the container ship, the ACX Crystal, reporting the collision around 2:20 a.m. local time. It was questioning crew members of the ACX Crystal, which is operated by the Japanese shipping company Nippon Yusen K.K., and was treating the incident as a case of possible professional negligence, said Masayuki Obara, a regional coast guard official.

“Thoughts and prayers with the sailors of USS Fitzgerald and their families,” U.S. President Donald Trump said on Twitter. “Thank you to our Japanese allies for their assistance.”

The ACX Crystal weighs 29,060 tons and is 222 metres long, the coast guard said, much larger than the 8,315-ton navy destroyer. The container ship’s left bow was dented and scraped, but it did not appear to have sustained any major structural damage.

Nippon Yusen said all of the ACX Crystal’s 20-member Filipino crew members were safe.

Conditions were clear at the time of the collision, though Yutaka Saito of the coast guard said the area is particularly busy with sea traffic.

U.S. navy personnel set up support and counselling services to help families as they sought updates on crew members.

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